Child care costs squeeze Virginia families
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The cost of child care in Virginia and around the nation is skyrocketing, with a new report finding that it's outpacing overall inflation.
Why it matters: Rising child care costs put a huge financial strain on families, Axios' Emily Peck reports.
- They can force some parents — typically women — to either ratchet back their working hours or leave the labor force entirely.
- For single parents, the calculus can be even more painful.
By the numbers: The average annual cost of daycare tuition in Virginia for two children — one toddler and one infant — rose to $30,680 last year, according to data from Child Care Aware, an advocacy group.
- That's the highest price tag for child care in the Southeast by far — and roughly $8,000 more a year than it costs in North Carolina.
- That's about 32% of the median household annual income in Virginia, based on Census data released in 2024.
Stunning stat: The cost for center-based child care for an infant would eat up 39% of a single parent's salary, per the report.
Meanwhile, the average annual cost of daycare tuition nationwide for two children was $28,168 — about 35% of U.S. median household annual income.
Zoom out: The U.S. doesn't have publicly funded universal childcare.
- However, the federal government does put money into the system for low-income kids through block grants to the states, as well as Head Start, the decades-old federal program that provides childcare, nutrition assistance and other services to the nation's poorest families.
- There were worries that the White House would stop funding Head Start, but the administration has said that won't happen.
Yes, but: President Trump's budget proposals look to keep federal funding levels for child care flat next year — that's effectively a cut given inflation, says Anne Hedgepeth, senior vice president of policy and research at Child Care Aware.
- "Level funding in the current environment is essentially a cut, and that is really concerning," she says.